Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee
by rurouni madness-battousai obsession
Summary: Sisters Kaoru and Tomoe get into an argument and Kaoru ends up challenging Tomoe to switch lives with her. But while Kaoru is pretending to be her sister, she starts falling for Tomoe's finace, Kenshin. Will she ever want to swich back now? KK SM AT
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So… I was on the elliptical cycle at the health club and all of a sudden the idea for this fanfiction came around! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the other brilliant characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. (sniff, sniff)**

Chapter One:

Sweat trickled from every angle of her young face. Long ebony hair was tied up while some of her bangs hung loosely over her sparkling sapphire eyes. She gasped for air and steadily held her bokken in both of her hands. She was free.

She had been practicing her kenjutsu in the family dojo for over three hours and whenever she practiced she felt like she was one with the world. It made her feel like a human being and not just the daughter of one of the richest business executives in Japan. She was about to put her wooden sword away when she heard soft footsteps entering the practice area. She turned around and saw her sister standing there giving her a reproving look.

"Kaoru Kamiya, why didn't you come to dinner? Father was expecting you."

Kaoru reached for a towel to wipe off her face as she retorted, "Well, Tomoe, I didn't think he really cared. After all, 'the perfect one' was already in his presence."

"Stop acting like a child, Kaoru," her sister scolded.

"You know it's true! He really could care less if I wasn't there!"

"Kaoru, he's not going to be back until the wedding! Of course he's going to want to see you before then. You're not going to be able to see him for six months!"

Kaoru snorted, "If it was my wedding, he wouldn't have bothered coming at all."

Tomoe sighed, smoothed out her white kimono, and touched her hair lightly to make sure that her elegant bun hadn't fallen out of place. "Kaoru, that is utterly ridiculous! The reason why Father is so harsh is because you continue to participate in such a manly sport and refuse to grow up and be a lady!"

"You consider yourself to be a lady? Well if growing up and being a lady consists of forcing yourself to marry a man you've never met in order for father to get a business merger with another company, and never being able to pursue a life that you want, then damn it! I don't want to be grow up and I sure as hell don't want to be a lady!"

Tomoe's usually calm face twitched, "Kaoru that is not the situation. I am not being forced to marry Kenshin. I did it to help father because of how depressed he's been lately! It is my job to honor our father! Look at all he's given us! From the mansion to your foolish dojo he's paid for it all and he's worked hard for that money! And as for not doing what I want to do, sometimes it is better to do what is right then to follow a childish dream."

Kaoru clenched her fists, glowered at her sister, and stormed out of the room.

888

Ever since childhood Kaoru and Tomoe had been stark opposites. Whenever Kaoru would be yelling and playing sports with the guys, Tomoe would be practicing for tea ceremonies. Whenever Tomoe was given an award for marvelous performance in school, Kaoru would be given a detention for socking a guy who told her she '_needed to act more like a girl_.'

However they had always been close. Tomoe was four years older then Kaoru, but they stayed by each other all the time. Kaoru always felt a strong connection with her older sister. Whenever something bad in life happened they would stick together, no matter what.

Despite the age diversity and the major personality variation, they loved each other. But about a year previously their mother had died of cancer and it caused their father to treat them differently.

Even though he supported Kaoru in joining kenjutsu at a small age, when his wife died he started to criticize her more about it, telling her to be more of a lady like her mother. Tomoe, however, (who had more of their mother's personality) was treated like the delicate daughter who never did anything wrong.

Because of this Kaoru became very jealous. She brought out her anger on Tomoe and insisted that if Tomoe would consider being less 'perfect' then maybe her father would pay more attention to her. Tomoe also started to feel strained because no matter what she did it felt Kaoru would resent her. So Tomoe ended up taking their father's side and things continuously got worse.

Their father felt that his business (Kamiya Kasshin Industries) would greatly benefit merging with the other business powerhouse in Japan (Hiten Mitsurugi Incorporated.) The Kamiya family had come from a long line of tradition and Mr. Kamiya thought it would be best to arrange a marriage between Tomoe and the nephew of the Hiten Mitsurugi executive, Kenshin, in order to assure that the business would stay together.

When Tomoe heard the plan she didn't argue. She knew that her father was going through a difficult time and as his daughter it was her duty to do what he wanted. But Kaoru thought this was ridiculous. She hated the idea with a passion and she lost all respect she had ever held for her father and Tomoe because of it. Not to mention, she was sickened by the fact that Tomoe had never even met Kenshin before. All she knew was that he was 25. So Tomoe could end up being forced to stay in a relationship with a man who could have pre-mature balding, a beer belly, and the attitude of a common country pig.

Kaoru was thinking over all of this as she got out of the bath. She placed the towel securely over herself and started brushing out her hair. She gazed in the mirror. She noted that she looked a lot like her sister without the sword-training clothes.

She shook her head and got into a traditional kimono. She knew her father was already angry at her for missing dinner so she decided that this might soften the blow of the punishment. She tied her hair up in a ribbon and scurried out of the bathroom. She hurriedly ran to her father's study (well as fast as she could in a kimono) and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a gruff voice called.

Kaoru entered the room, her head hanging down. "I'm sorry Dad, I got lost in my training."

She heard a grunt and she looked up. "You act more like a young man then a young lady you realize? You also realize that I'm going to be leaving for six months and you can't even manage to take out an hour of your training?"

"Dad I'm…"

The man's voice rose, "I'm not done talking with you! Listen; if you don't give up this nonsense I am going to cut you from the family fortune and I will never speak to you again! Do you understand?"

Kaoru was shocked. Her father had given her lectures that lasted for up to four hours but he had never gone this far. "But Dad…!"

"You have the six months that I'm gone in to get this all over with. You're a senior this year and so you can participate in the kendo championships like you did every other year, but this will be the last time. Next year you're going to college and it will be time to grow you! You hear me?"

Kaoru felt close to tears. Two things that she loved dearly were her family and kendo. If she went with her father she would have to give up kendo. But if she continued to do kendo she would loose her father, and inevitably her sister.

Kaoru nodded, her head held down and she whispered, "Yes, father."

He nodded back and his face softened a little, "That's good. Good night, Kaoru," he stood up, kissed her on the cheek, and left the room.

888

"What do you mean you're going to quit kendo?" Misao Makimachi's voice pierced through the speaker on Kaoru's cell phone.

Kaoru sighed and replied to her best friend, "I know! But I don't want to loose my family! I already lost Mom."

Misao went quiet for a few seconds and softly spoke, "Kaoru, did you tell your dad how much you love the sport? He can't take away something that makes his daughter really happy."

"I guess he can," Kaoru replied bitterly, "I try to explain it to him every day but he just won't listen. Anyway I have to go, bye!" She shut her phone off and lied down on her bed face first and began to cry. She didn't know what to do. The reason she had hung up on Misao was due to the fact that she didn't want Misao to go out of her way and end up having her father force Misao out of her life with kendo.

The door to her bedroom opened softly and her sister walked in.

In a blubbery voice Kaoru demanded, "What?"

Tomoe walked over timidly and put her hands on Kaoru's shoulders. "Father told me the news. I'm sorry Kaoru."

"You don't care!" Kaoru retorted and edged away from her, "You agree with him! You want me to be miserable, just like him!"

Tomoe sighed "I can say truthfully that giving up kendo will probably benefit your life, but I don't want you to be miserable. I think father took the wrong approach in trying to breach you of your bad habit."

"Bad habit!" Kaoru snapped, her sapphire eyes were red from tears and burning with anger, "Do you have any idea how much I love it? Do you have any idea that if it was simply a bad habit I would have quit it ages ago! It takes dedication beyond what you have ever known!"

Tomoe glared at her, "You don't think I know dedication? I'm marrying a man I don't even know! My life is a lot tougher then you think it is!"

"You're doing that because you're a wimp and you don't want to go against Dad's orders!"

"No, being a wimp would be someone who went against his orders. It took a lot more strength to say yes!"

Kaoru was shaking with anger, "Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"What?" Tomoe was taken aback.

"That's right I want you to prove it!"

"How can I PROOVE it to you?"

Kaoru was silent for a few seconds and then she replied, "Switch places with me."

"But that is absurd! There's no way I could do that!"

"Are you too much of a coward?"

"No, I'm being logical! It would never work! Not to mention the fact that I'm going to meet my fiancé in a few days and I don't want him meeting you and thinking that I'm a girl who doesn't know how to act like a lady!"

"Train me then!"

"No!"

"Yes! If I take your place and admit that your life is harder then I will put away kenjutsu forever and act like a 'lady,' as you call it, for as long as I live! But if I win, and you discover that my life is harder then you have to support me in telling Dad that I should be able to continue sword fighting without the risk of loosing my family!"

Tomoe was about to retort again when all of a sudden she realized something. 'This might actually be a good idea. Kaoru will also learn how to be a lady in the process and Kaoru and I look relatively alike so I'm sure Father's business associates won't notice. Father will also be gone for a while. But there is the issue with what to do about my future fiancé…'

* * *

Kenshin sneezed. 

His best friend Sanosuke grinned, "Someone's thinking of you, man. Maybe it's a hot chick."

Kenshin sighed, "Sanosuke, that's just a myth and even if it was true I'm getting married in six months so I can't afford having these 'hot chicks' thinking about me."

"Oh come on, Kenshin! You haven't even met the girl yet! You might as well enjoy life while you still can!" Sanosuke patted him on the back really hard and made the red-headed man topple over.

"Sano, you don't understand. I'm going to end up running this business after Uncle Hiko retires and I need to start being serious about this now. The thing I'm worried about is not being able to have one last fling, but what this girl is like! I'm going to be stuck with her for a long time and the extent of what I know of her is that she has long black hair and she's the daughter of Nobuhiro Kamiya."

Sanosuke looked at his friend and shook his head, "I'm sure she'll be gorgeous Kenshin. I mean her dad is loaded so even if she was an ugly duckling she's had plastic surgery of some kind to make her look better."

"That's not the problem! I don't care what she looks like!"

Sano snorted.

Kenshin glared at him, "Shut up, Sano! I really do care about what she's like! I don't want to marry some rich snob! I want to marry someone who isn't afraid to let people know what she's thinking! I don't want someone who I could easily run over! Unfortunately she agreed to an arranged marriage and, well you know how romantic women can be. If she agreed to this, I highly doubt she's going to be a loud modern woman."

"And you like women like this? I would take the quiet and obedient one."

Kenshin grinned, "No you wouldn't."

Sanosuke stared at him, "What do you mean?"

"I see the way you look at Miss Megumi. Your eyes light up whenever you see her and you always find a way to talk, well argue, with her. And you can't tell me that Miss Megumi is a quiet compliant woman."

Sanosuke glared at him, "I don't like her! And besides if that was true then why haven't you fallen for her?"

Kenshin shrugged, "She's a childhood friend. I think of her more as a sister."

Sanosuke shook his head and felt slightly pained for Megumi's sake. He knew that she had been in love with Kenshin for the past few years now. But he also felt jealously that he could not deny. 'Why doesn't Kenshin realize how good he's got it with a girl like Megumi wanting him?'

Kenshin looked at his friend's blank face and grinned again. "You wish you could be in my place so you could avoid her many charms?"

Sano turned slightly pink, "Damn it Kenshin! Shut up already!"

Kenshin raised his eyebrows and walked over to the window in the room. He gazed out the window. 'Who are you Tomoe Kamiya?'

* * *

Tomoe finally broke the silence, "Alright, I'll do it. Starting tomorrow I am going to go into training as Kaoru Kamiya and you will be Tomoe Kamiya for the next three months." 

**A/N: So did you like it? I kind of enjoyed it! I also have a whole lot of plot in my brain for this one and I actually have a bit of an idea on how this fanfic is going to end! (Which unlike my other fanfics which haven't been updated in a long time, is truly a first!)**

**So please review! Oh and I have a question. Do you want there to be a lot of pairings in the story with odd romantic twists and turns or do you want me to focus on the main couples? (AKA: Kenshin/Kaoru, Sano/Megumi, and Tomoe/Akira)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: You guys like it! I'm so glad! And just as a note to all of you. I know Kaoru's being a tad bit of a brat right now, but I love to develop my characters and not make them perfect to begin with. Oh… and there are hints of Miss Congeniality in this chapter (if you've seen the movie you'll know what I mean when you read it) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the other characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. (Or Miss Congeniality) **

**Chapter 2:**

Kaoru stared at her sister. She had expected there to be a lot more arguing. But Tomoe had just accepted! "All right then! Starting tomorrow we'll begin preparing!"

Tomoe nodded and almost left the room but ended up turning around, "Set your alarm for 5:00 AM."

Kaoru's eyes went wide, "What?"

"If you're going to be prepared in meeting my fiancé, you're going to have to get a lot of work done." She turned and left.

Kaoru groaned. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

888

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Kaoru's hand blindly searched for the snooze button. She forced her heavy eyelids to open and came face to face with a very awake, very gay man.

Kaoru let out a scream and then clutched her blanket to her chest, "Kamatari! What are you doing here this early in the morning?"

"You're sister called me this morning and requested your beautifying treatment!" His eyes sparkling as he clapped his hands.

Kamatari had been in family for ages. As Tomoe's personal stylist since the age of fifteen, Kaoru knew him well. His dark hair had a slightly girly flair to it and his clothes were always in the latest fashion. He always scolded Kaoru for her behavior and said, 'Sweetie, you have the figure of a goddess, don't go strutting around like a sloppy male!'

"Can I at least have breakfast?" She rubbed her eyes and slowly slipped out of bed.

"I think I have half of a power bar in here somewhere," he searched through his man-bag (AKA purse) and took out a bar that looked more like something a dog would eat as opposed to something a human being would.

She made a disgusted face. "Do I have to eat that?"

Kamatari scoffed, "Well if you want to win this bet and hold up to your sister's standards, then yes you do."

She forced it down her throat and was about to open her drawers to get her normal jeans on when Kamatari slapped her hands away from the dresser.

"No! No! No! You are going to be wearing Tomoe's clothes today! Not the grubby clothes of some young boy!"

"But she's taller then me!"

"We'll have them hemmed."

"But they're so hard to wear," she continued to whine.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, darling. No whining! Now join me as I take you into the wonderful world of fashion!" He took her hand and skipped out of the room.

"Dear God."

888

When Kamatari started working for the Kamiya family, there really wasn't much of a clothing section in the mansion. Sure Tomoe always had more clothes then Kaoru due to her bigger interest in fashion, but besides that there wasn't really an extravagant amount.

But the year Kamatari started working; their clothes started shipping in from the biggest designers every day. He had graduated from the top fashion university in Japan at the top of his class. To top that all off, he didn't come from a rich family so he had to work especially hard to get where he was, one of the most respected and youngest fashion designers in all of Japan.

When they both arrived in Tomoe's room (where Tomoe surprisingly wasn't) he dragged Kaoru into possibly the biggest walk-in-closet in the country. It was the size of a somewhat wealthy man's living room. On one wall there was dresses, another had traditional kimonos, another one had shoes and purses, and the other wall was covered with mirrors. Kaoru was so over stimulated by this girly-ness that it scared her when she heard a shriek from Kamatari.

"Baby, I found the perfect dress for you!"

Kaoru turned around and came face to face with a bright white and pink dress in floral print that would go midway down her calves (AKA the dress from hell.)

"Ummmm… I…."

"You love it! Isn't it marvelous?"

"Not really…"

"Well you have no eye. But we shall develop that later! Now put it on!"

"I don't want to!"

"Do you want Tomoe to win?" Kamatari sweetly asked in a slightly cutting voice.

"Well no…"

"Then put it on!"

Kaoru was shocked, "In front of you?"

"Well why not?"

"You're a guy!"

Kamatari laughed, "And totally not interested in your type at all, and your gender for that matter."

Kaoru burned red and quickly slipped out or her pajamas and into the dress. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. Well aside from her hair which looked like it had been in a tornado or two, she had to admit the dress did look kind of good on her.

Kamatari gleefully clapped. "And now, the shoes!" He reached over and pulled out a pair of white stilettos heels and gave them to her.

"No! Not those shoes! I hate heels!" She whined.

"I know this, love. But you'll have to learn to wear them!"

He turned around, looking for a matching purse, and Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

Meanwhile Tomoe was dressed in Kaoru's training clothes patiently waiting in the dojo. She felt severely uncomfortable though. The clothes were itchy and they didn't have the best smell to them either. She had called Misao about thirty minutes ago because she knew that besides Kaoru, she would be the best teacher on how to act like a tomboy and athlete.

She heard the doors to the dojo slide open and in came a very bleary eyed Misao in her training outfit. Tomoe flinched. The outfit was all together too revealing and didn't even compliment her features all that well. She had silently never approved of Misao as her sister's best friend, but she put up with it anyway.

"So…" Misao yawned, "What's this about anyway?"

"I need you to train me," Tomoe simply stated.

This woke Misao up, "What?"

"I need you to train me. Kaoru and I decided to switch lives for the next few months and there's no way I can get through Kaoru's life without training." Tomoe stated as calmly as if she was stating her own name and age.

Misao looked like someone was telling her a bad joke, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Actually I'm not. If she admits my life is harder, she has to give up kendo and if I admit her life is harder, I have to help her talk to Father about continuing it."

"But why do you want to do this?"

"It is definitely time Kaoru learned to act like a lady. Anyway, Kaoru and you are switching schools this year so there is no way that anyone will find out during the switch. We'll just explain everything to everyone when it is over with."

Misao continued to stare blankly, "So…. You want me to train you in how to be like Kaoru?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, but you have to promise not to hate me after this training session."

"Why would I hate you?"

"Well I generally appear to be all happy and peppy, but… to put it bluntly I'm a tad bit of a bitch when it comes to training people."

Tomoe sighed, "I am sure that is not true, Misao."

Misao shrugged, "I guess you'll find out soon enough, you ready?"

Tomoe nodded.

* * *

Kaoru gingerly touched her hair. It was smooth, silky, and all of her split ends had vanished. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and was astounded. Her hair actually looked amazing.

Kamatari had taken her to one of the top hair salons in Tokyo. In the course of two hours of them yanking at her hair, putting about ten hair care products in, and then cutting three inches off, she was done and she had to say, looked rather pretty.

"You like it?" Kamatari grinned.

"Yeah," Kaoru said still running her hands through her hair.

"Yes."

"What?"

"A lady never replies with 'yeah' but with 'yes,'"

Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"And now for the final touch!" Kamatari reached for a big black bag that he had touted around since they had left the house. He started taking make-up out of the bag.

"No," Kaoru declared.

"Why not my dear?"

"I refuse to wear that… that… junk!"

"But it will accent your features, darling."

"No! It's just not natural! I don't think it's right that men are only attracted to you because of the gunk on your face as opposed to your personality!"

"Only ugly girls say that, love," Kamatari sang, "Now open your eyes wider," He started putting mascara on her upper lashes.

Kaoru decided not to protest. It was always a loosing battle with Kamatari.

888

About ten minutes later the make-up ritual was over with and Kaoru was amazed. She hated to admit it, but she really did look really good. Kamatari had put shimmering light pink gloss on her lips and a slightly darker shade of blush on her cheeks.

Kamatari smirked, "Let's so see what you look like in the full length mirror now."

Kaoru stood up shakily, not yet used to her heels, and walked over to the mirror on the other side of the room. She saw her reflection and was amazed. This was not the tom-boy Kaoru, but a delicate pretty flower.

Kaoru turned around, "So am I done now?"

Kamatari laughed, "Just because you look like a lady, doesn't mean you know how to act like one. If you walked into Tomoe's engagement party now, people could sniff you out in an instant."

"What do you mean?"

Kamatari started counting on his fingers, "You slouch, you're strides are too long, you're too loud, and you have problem with voicing your opinion everywhere you go in a rather rude manner."

Kaoru was offended. "Well sorry if I use my right of free speech!"

Kamatari sighed, "Love, free speech was not made for the people who proclaim love to their families. It was made for the stupid people like you who don't know how to keep their mouths shut!"

Kaoru glared at him.

"Come along love! It's time to begin your training!"

* * *

"Misao," Tomoe gasped searching for breath "Can we halt the training for a bit?"

"Halt for a bit? It's just begun, my dear," Misao mocked.

Misao had made Tomoe run ten laps around the dojo, do fifty squats, fifty push-ups and fifty sit-ups all without a break in-between. "Now some katas!"

"What?"

"Katas, in other words 'that swinging thing' you say Kaoru does every morning."

"Oh that sounds simple."

Misao didn't say anything and just laughed.

* * *

"Now walk straight!"

"It's too hard!" Kaoru whined. "These things are too tall!"

Kamatari laughed at her, "Come on Kaoru, Tomoe does this on a daily basis. It can't be that hard!"

He turned around and Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him for the fifth time that day. She HATED this training. They were on Tokyo's main street and the entire time Kamatari was snapping at her for either being too slow, too fast, or not keeping her back straight enough. For the first time in the past year, Kaoru felt sympathy for her sister. But of course this wasn't enough to make her give up kendo, so she drudged on.

When Kamatari had finally stepped walking he turned around and gave her a serious look, "Now Kaoru, I am going to give you some very wise words that I'm sure you've heard before. Have you heard of Muhammad Ali?"

Kaoru scoffed, "The famous American boxer? Of course I have!"

"Have you ever heard of his saying _Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee_?"

"Of course!"

"Well darling, you have the 'sting like a bee' part down. But you really need to learn to 'float like a butterfly.' You have to walk smoothly and gently. You have to walk as if your feet are not touching the ground. Now, love, I have to leave for a little bit. I'll meet you at the Akabeko, at noon alright? Kisses!" He quickly floated out of Kaoru's eyesight as he skipped around the corner.

Kaoru sighed, 'What the hell is he talking about?' She started trying to walk like he told her too, head held high and floating. She suddenly saw a sports store across the street. So she imagined that she was Tomoe and crossed the street.

* * *

"Sano, you're driving too fast!"

"Man, life is too fast for you to take it so slow!" Sanosuke yelled over the loud radio at his red-headed best friend hung onto the dashboard for dear life.

"Sano slow down! You're about to run a red light!"

"What did you say, Kenshin?"

"You're about to," Kenshin froze. There was a girl crossing the street and she didn't see them. He grabbed the steering wheel from Sano's hands and slammed his foot on the breaks just in time.

The girl looked startled. He jumped out of the car and quickly approached her, "Are you alright?"

The girl was coming out of shock and was starting to enter a very different emotion, "Am I alright? Am I alright? Listen, you jerk. Your friend just about ran over me while I was practicing acting like a damn lady! I don't have time for this! And don't think that just because I'm a woman, I'm some delicate little creature! I could kick your ass, right here and right now, but I have a bet to win with my sister, so see you later!"

She tried to storm off, but tripped over her heels. She growled, yanked the shoes off her feet and walked bear-foot towards a sporting goods store.

Kenshin continued to watch her. 'Who was that girl?'

Sanosuke finally came out of the car and he laughed, "There's your dream girl Kenshin."

**A/N: So… what did you think? I kind of liked this chapter! So Kenshin and Kaoru met in an… unusual way… What will Kenshin think when she shows up at the engagement party? Well I guess you'll have to wait and see…. **

**Oh and as for when Akira is going to show up, it will PROBABLY be in the next chapter…. **

**Anywho, I have another question for you guys. I have determined to keep the plot revolving around the central couples (K/K, A/T, and S/M) Mainly K/K of course, but I was wondering if you guys would like a little Aoshi/Misao too? Why? Because I fricken' love that pairing! But I know some of you guys don't, so just tell me what you think and please review! I would love it if I reached 40 reviews before the next chapter! **


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